I am done with power meters

I’m done. Power meters suck. Firstly, they dysfunction and break faster than any other product that charges a $2k+ premium aught to. Second they suck the soul out of cycling, just ask Froome dog:

Does he look happy? No. An the fact of the matter is that no one’s happy watching their power numbers because they’re always too low. That’s the whole reason you’re looking at your power numbers in the first place: to get better numbers (or to brag about how many watts you did or didn’t put out). It’s all about Marginal Gains, #AeroisEverything, not having any fun, and whatever else it takes to get an edge.

I’m not that type of person. Sure having a power meter taught me a lot about what it really means to do a constant effort. But in all honesty, the only time I genuinely use my power meter now is the handful of times during the year I do intervals (I don’t do intervals), other than that they’re just numbers to tell you you’re going too hard.

I just don’t care enough, I enjoy beers and Krispy Kreme. I always knew that I didn’t want to be a pro cyclist forever, I didn’t want to end up 30 and realize my life was dependent on racing kids for a few hundred bucks (at best). That’s why I applied to grad school, I told my team that I was thinking of going back to grad school and unfortunately that’s why I didn’t get on a team.

I’m super bummed I didn’t get a contract for next year. I applied to grad schools for Engineering for the winter semester, it was sort of a long shot with not a lot of spots available…and I didn’t get in anywhere. Then just as I was wrapping up talking to schools finding out why I didn’t get in I found out that I didn’t get a contract because the possible scheduling conflicts from grad schools. #FirstWorldProblems

I love cycling, I tried to not care one year (I even had a full time big boy job) and I had my best season to date and got a pro contract from that year. Because cycling my passion I think that’s why it’s never really sat well being my job. You’re not really adding any value to anything or anyone’s lives (sponsorship struggles to make sense via dollars), it’s important to admit to yourself you’re a pro cyclist because you’re selfish.

We had long talks in Belgium about what’s the point of all this. Pipe dream for us older folks is to make it to DII teams like UHC. What does that mean? More travel, more obscure races, slightly more money…then if I’m successful there, what next? Getting to be the C team for a DI team? It doesn’t end, so I’m glad the choice was made out of my control because I’m not sure I could have made that choice myself. Fact of the matter is you’re fighting a big uphill battle if you didn’t get into the system when you were a junior. I’m a late entry and I’m done fighting that uphill battle, I’m done having to put the rest of my life on hold for a few bucks and a title that a lot of Cat 1 and some cat 2 riders misuse anyway (and even that doesn’t matter, because to an outside observer, you’re making money therefore you’re a professional).

So now I’m back to a clean slate with literally no commitments for next year or even next month.

Post navigation

3 Comments

Chris,
I think that at some point most of us realize what you are writing about. We love the sport to the point that it consumes us. We try to advance to a “higher” level only to realize that it wasn’t what we wanted or expected. Truthfully I am surprised that so many chase the dream.
You have an education, put it to use. You really don’t want to go through this process every August or September, do you?
One of our local “kids” was a pretty good rider but opted to become a paramedic/EMT. I would like to have seen how far he might have gone BUT I told him that, IMO, he made the right decision. He will be employable for the rest of his life and not be dependent on whether a team may or may not exist the next year.
Best of luck and I hope to see you on the road somewhere.
Jim

Here’s an idea…. Take some structural classes. Actually you could probably skip that step, I’m sure you statics are solid. We’ll find a spot for you. Then we force the employer to sponsor a team. boom. problem solved. Racing bikes and engineering buildings.